


Never A King

by Ashapon



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, Overwatch AU, Reaper76 - Freeform, Security Guard!Jack, Spanish Prince!AU, Spanish Prince!Gabriel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-02
Updated: 2017-04-02
Packaged: 2018-10-13 19:43:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10520553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ashapon/pseuds/Ashapon
Summary: Being cursed for decades means that Prince Reyes is a long way from feeling at home.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first part of a commission piece for a friend! Commissions are open on my tumblr: https://poncywriting.tumblr.com/.
> 
> Enjoy!

The castle was every bit as grand as the books had described and through his first tour, Jack found himself nearly lost admiring the sand-colored bricks and steepled archways. He stopped short of the entrance to the castle’s grand library, peering in at towering shelves stuffed with an array of books.

“Most of it’s history,” one of the site’s tour guides - a young woman by the name of Marina Delgado - supplied. “Otherwise it’s filled with a bunch of classical stuff. Stories the royal fam might enjoy, if they were still around.”

Jack didn’t fault Delgado for her flippancy; he supposed he wouldn’t be pleased if he was instructed to give an after-hours tour of the site to fresh blood.

He stepped into the library for a moment, eyes scanning a ceiling interspersed with skylights, packed bookshelves that centered around a functioning fireplace and what appeared to be a modest-sized portrait of the royal family.

Jack recognized the faces immediately from the texts he’d perused. King Andrés Vinicio and Queen Lucila Irma standing tall and proud behind Gabriel Zacarías and Isabella Leticia, son and daughter, prince and princess. All of them were suited in garb traditional of their time, flowing coats and dresses, crowns and jewels, gold and red and other brilliant shades.

He heard Delgado step in and shift beside him, folding her arms as she looked up at the portrait with him.

“In all their glory,” she hummed. “Word is our fashionable prince hated having his portrait done. Might even cringe if he saw it today.”

Jack laughed, observing the stern set of the prince’s brow, the poorly disguised frown painted on his lips.

“This was before the princess fell ill?”

Delgado nodded.

“You’ve done your research,” she replied, waving him from the library with manicured nails. “Sunset isn’t going to wait for us to finish this up. Don’t want to get lost on your first night, do you?”

“I’ve got a feeling-” Jack said under his breath, tearing his gaze from the dark eyes of the prince. “-it might happen, anyway.”

—

Jack strolled the halls of the castle’s north wing the instant the clock hit eight with nothing but an empty gun holster, a baton, hand-held radio, and a flashlight. He was informed by the large and boisterous head of security that break-ins were fairly common - nothing violent, only theft - so the odds of physical confrontation were minimal.

Most thieves were either captured or spooked without hassle. If that was true, Jack felt a bit guilty about the ease of the work.

From the tour and the map he’d been given days ago to study, he knew that the sections of the castle that he was responsible for consisted of the throne room, a private library, and the largely off-limits royal family members’ bedchambers. The most valuable artifacts within this space were a complete set of four jeweled crowns, the enormous collection of dated texts from the library, and original portraits.

The crowns themselves were encased in glass, an alarm only he and the other guards knew the code to threatening to blare from something as simple as a loose breath.

Jack checked in on those first, the beam of his flashlight catching on solid gold and brilliant rubies while he checked that the alarm was still set. He made his way to the library, where he gave the room a full once-over before his eyes landed on the portrait.

The moonlight cast peculiar shadows on the faces of the royal family and, if he were the skittish type, he might have sworn he saw Prince Reyes’ eyes moving.

He shook his head, radioing to the other guards that his initial check was complete and tucking the hand-held back at his side.

Jack heard a sound behind him then, like someone bumping into a table, harsh whispered tones in a foreign language, something toppling. He spun, clicking his flashlight on and aiming the stream at the doorway.

If he had not been gazing up at the portrait moments ago, he would have needed to double-check, triple-check for certain because the man standing before him, cradling an intricate Spanish florero, looked remarkably like the prince himself.

Jack stood still for a moment, blinking hard, positive he must be hallucinating.

The imposter stared back, wide-eyed, the expression painting him in a completely different light than the stone-cold frown in his portrait.

Except that it couldn’t be his portrait, that would mean Prince Reyes was alive after centuries had passed.

Jack opened his mouth to speak when the imposter shifted, sliding the unbroken vase back onto the table he’d knocked it off of, straightening it.

Jack tried again.

“The castle’s open for tours from 8-9,” he said. “Now it’s off-limits. I’m going to have to ask you to leave if you don’t want to involve the cops.”

The imposter frowned - and there it was, a resemblance so startling that it took Jack’s breath away - and folded his arms.

Jack watched with disbelief as the man rolled his eyes.

“How can one’s home be off-limits,” he huffed, taking a step closer. “I will not be caged in my rooms day after day so that anybody can waltz in and wander through my family’s home.”

Jack saw the irritation as much as he heard it, authentic or else practiced in the furrowed brow and twitch of the man’s lips. He started to reach for his radio and saw the look-alike freeze in place.

“I don’t know what game you’re playing,” Jack began. “But I asked you to leave and now you’re coming with me.”

The imposter appeared affronted, ready to retort before both of them were startled by the high-pitched blare of a security alarm.

Jack cursed.

“The crowns,” he raised his voice. “Look, I need you stay put while I…”

Jack trailed off, suddenly alone. He looked around to find the library empty, the connecting hallways equally as vacant.

With the alarms still sounding down the left hall, Jack took off in the direction of the throne room.

—

“I heard you made a catch on your first night?”

Jack glanced up from swirling the contents of his cup of coffee, sitting up in his seat with a sigh.

The cafe was largely unoccupied so early in the morning and he was exhausted, stopping by immediately after his shift.

“Yeah,” he replied, running a hand through his hair. “Someone tried to nab the royal crowns.”

Ana Amari hummed from the seat across the table, sipping at her tea with an arched eyebrow.

“Correct me if I’m wrong,” she started. “But I think that’s impressive. You’re doing excellent work, Jack.”

Jack nodded, absentminded. He was glad that his first night had been productive when it could have been hours of him getting lost in his acclimating to the castle’s layout. On top of that, he only had this job because Ana had put in a good word with the head of security.

After years on the battlefield together, she was still looking out for him.

“I’m glad I could help,” he curled his hands around his drink, relying on the warm contact to ground him as he continued. “I just think I could have done more.”

Ana clicked her tongue.

“What more is there to be done?” Her expression softened. “Jack, what is it?”

In all of the excitement that followed the crown thief’s capture, Jack had lost track of the presumed imposter and forgotten to mention anything to the head of security. The guilt had put him on edge all morning.

“I messed up.” he sighed. “Someone else was in the castle last night, Ana. And they got away because I was distracted.”

Ana furrowed her eyebrows, sitting up. She abandoned her half-empty drink.

She motioned for him to go on.

Jack shook his head.

“He was… odd,” he sat back, arms crossed, dropping his gaze as he thought back on the moment. “There was something about him that seemed unreal? He was trespassing, but he was furious when I pointed it out.”

“Perhaps he was just annoyed he was caught.”

“No, that,” Jack took a deep breath. “That wasn’t the strangest thing. I had the light on him and everything and he…”

Jack leaned forward, lowering his voice.

“He looked exactly like the prince - Gabriel Reyes? I had glanced at the portrait before I spotted him and there was nothing. No difference.”

“Jack,” Ana tilted her head. “About this man…”

“It seems crazy, right?” Jack groaned, reaching for his coffee. “Maybe I’m not ready to jump to something so similar to the battlefield. Christ, and you helped me out with so much.”

“Jack Morrison,” Ana interrupted, her tone patient. “You said this man looked physically similar to the prince?”

“Yeah,” Jack closed his eyes, recalling the shocked expression. “Hair, eyes, clothing almost. Same time period, maybe.”

Ana’s thoughtful frown shifted to something exasperated.

“Hang on,” Jack said. “You’ve met him? Or you know about him? Some famous goddamn imposter that goes waltzing around the grounds?”

“Not quite,” she pulled out her phone, began typing out a message. “What time was this, did you say?”

“Uh,” Jack recalled, squinting. “Around 11, maybe? Why?”

Ana hummed; Jack found his patience thinning in the face of all this ambiguity.

“Reinhardt will want to know,” she replied. “He will not be angry, I assure you.”

Jack knew he was supposed to find that comforting, but instead he felt like there was too much information missing. Half of a whole summary that would explain the previous night. His frustration, he knew, was evident in his tone.

“The security head knows about him, too?” He frowned. “Was no one going to mention anything?”

Ana set her phone down, her expression sympathetic, but otherwise betraying no concern.

“I’ll escort you to your shift tonight,” she offered, sipping at what was left of her tea. “Security Chief Wilhelm and can fill you in, then.”

—

“Sorry,” Jack started. “You want to run that by me again?”

Delgado rolled her eyes, propped against one of the small tables in the castle library.

“I told you,” she informed Ana and Reinhardt, who exchanged a glance. “You can’t just say these kinds of things to anyone. They’ll think you’re loco.”

“It would not be the first time,” Reinhardt declared, oddly chipper. “To lose an employee to mistrust.”

“Did you not see him, Jack?” Ana countered. “Last night, in this very room?”

At the moment, Jack felt a bit betrayed. As though what he’d confided in Ana was now being turned into a joke at his expense.

In spite the likelihood of Ana not taking him seriously when he was sincere being zero.

“Right now,” he started, standing from his seat. “I don’t know what the hell I saw.”

Delgado waved a hand in Jack’s direction as if to make a point.

“There is a reason we are telling you,” Ana continued. “It is likely you will meet him again.”

“Very likely,” Delgado added. “He may be a prince, but he is not so good with rules.”

Jack, exhausted, opened his mouth to end this game, this conversation. If it was a prank, it was elaborate, and that was all he was giving them. If they wanted him to quit for some bizarre reason, he’d rather they tell him face-to-face.

He opened his mouth to express his irritation, but someone else spoke over him.

“If any of you have a problem with how I’m conducting myself, I’d rather you tell me instead of gossiping.”

Jack turned to the library entrance, where everyone had already directed their gaze, to see the very same man from the night before.

Seeing the man alone, under the glow of the flashlight was one thing, but surrounded by others, in a well-lit room, brought a whole new level of authenticity to his existence.

Jack hadn’t been imagining things; his resemblance to the prince was unmistakable. Short, wavy hair, dark eyes, strong jaw, thin scars across his cheek. His stance reflective of his higher class, but more military than Jack was expecting. Clothing in rich colors that conveyed regality, but not overwhelming opulence.

His clothes differed from the outfit in the portrait. Practical, but still polished. A buttoned military coat, pressed trousers, dark boots. A prince, a soldier, a leader.

But, Jack recalled, never a king.

“Speak of the devil,” Delgado said, far too loudly to be under her breath. “Gabe, come in. We’ve got someone for you to meet.”

Prince Reyes’ shoulders tensed, though he took a step forward and eyed Jack.

“We’ve already met,” he stated, crossing his arms. “And I don’t need you to invite me into my own library.”

“Gabriel,” Reinhardt shouted joyously. “It is good to see you. But we must speak to the incident last night.”

Prince Reyes shrugged out of the large hand on his shoulder, scowling.

“I will not,” he hissed. “Be caged in my room like a damn animal. This is my home.”

Reinhardt, sympathetic man that Ana painted him to be, softened his tone.

“We do not wish to take that from you,” he said. “But I thought we had reached an agreement.”

“Untrue,” Reyes retorted. “You had reached an agreement. I had no say.”

“The option that Reinhardt gave you is perfectly reasonable,” Ana interrupted, narrowing her eyes at the bristled prince. “While Reinhardt in on-duty, you can go about as you please. It is impossible to have him in every wing of the castle, every night.”

“This castle,” Reyes repeated. “Belongs to my family, belongs to me.”

“Actually, right now,” Delgado said, looking down at her nails. “It belongs to the city, principe. It’s a tourist attraction.”

Prince Reyes opened his mouth, affronted, but no words must have come to him. He folded his arms with a huff, remained silent.

Jack guessed now wasn’t the best time for him to speak, but he had plenty of questions he thought he rightfully deserved answers to.

“Hate to interrupt,” he started. “But I still don’t know what the hell’s going on.”

Everyone’s gaze shifted to him.

Ana was the one to speak.

“It might be best for Gabriel to speak to this situation himself.”

Jack guessed that the prince opening up to him was unlikely at the moment. Prince Reyes, arms folded and lips curved to a frown, cooperating and sharing every last detail with a complete stranger seemed as far-fetched as this whole situation.

“Gabe, come on,” Delgado rolled her eyes. “If one more person knows, the world won’t crumble. Besides, if this guy knows, that means you can wander the halls of this place being all mopey more often.”

Shockingly, Delgado’s words did not comfort Prince Reyes.

Jack watched the man tear out of the room with a huff.

Delgado shrugged.

“Story time’s on me today,” she smiled, hopping up to sit on the library table. “Listen in, fresh meat. You’ll never here another tale like this again.”

—

That night, it was impossible for Jack not to be distracted by thought. He would have continued insisting that everyone stop with this long-winded joke of theirs, but they managed to coax Prince Reyes back for a few minutes to provide proof.

Apparently, the man couldn’t leave the castle grounds. Jack watched the prince completely disappear when he stepped past this ‘border’ further down the path of the entrance.

Somehow he made it through his entire shift without any trouble, in spite of his mind being in a entirely different place. He didn’t see Prince Reyes for the rest of the evening.

Sleeping was as difficult as it had always been, but he managed a few hours back at his apartment before he delved in on the research. Ana had informed him that Prince Reyes refused to talk about how this whole thing happened to him, or what it could have been.

Was the man dead? Was he still alive? Was it a curse?

At this point, Jack believed it could be anything.

Historical texts and articles revealed basic information about the royal family; the king, queen, their son, their daughter. Prince Reyes’ sister was a few years his elder and the one who took to the throne after the prince’s death.

Presumed death.

She ruled with pride, was just and fair, lived a long life before she passed and the throne then went to her son.

Another article talked about a time before Princess Isabella Reyes became queen, a time where a majority of the royal family never set foot out of the castle except on strict business. Most of their meetings would take place within the castle grounds.

Those few months were so noted, so unusual because the family adored spending time in town, attending local festivities, participating in the bustling markets. Isabella’s husband, in fact, was an entrepreneur of local trade; she had visited him often at the markets before they were married.

Not long after Los Meses Tristes, as the locals referred to it, it was announced that Prince Reyes had passed due to an unknown illness. The kingdom went into mourning. Isabella was married six months later at a quaint ceremony and she became queen.

Nothing about what really happened to Prince Reyes, because it was clear he wasn’t dead over a century later, and Jack didn’t know where to begin his speculations.

Inevitably, he packing his work things early, donned his uniform, and made his way to the Castillo.

—

The castle archives were vast and thorough; piled side-by-side on the libraries shelves was every book imaginable that spoke to this particular historical site and the people who had once lived here. Up until the last fifty years, when no heirs had been present and any distant relations had agreed to sell the site to the city for a hefty sum.

Minutes after the castle had closed to the public, and hours before he was on duty, Jack buried himself in the tomes, skimming redundant facts for any sign of obscurity. Anything that would result in, say, immortality.

Maybe he was pursuing the wrong angle, maybe Prince Reyes was dead and he was tied to the castle somehow. He wasn’t able to move on until he accomplished… something.

Jack sighed, rubbing at his temple as perused the royal family tree for what felt like the dozenth time. There was too much of the same information, too many theories swimming around in his mind.

The worst of it all was that he knew if someone asked why he was so stuck on this, he wouldn’t have an answer. History had always been interesting to him, but that could only push him so far.

There was something about the prince. If he’d been alive all of this time, he’d witnessed the passing of so many loved ones, and the castle had been vacant of family for the past fifty years…

Wouldn’t he want to know more about what happened and why? Wouldn’t he want to fix it?

Wouldn’t he be lonely?

“What are you doing?”

Jack sat up in his seat, his back and neck protesting the sudden shift. He twisted to spot the prince in the library’s entryway.

Words didn’t come to Jack immediately as he looked the man over.

Gabriel Reyes was dressed differently than he’d been on the night they first met, or the evening they’d been formally introduced. If on the last few nights, the prince had looked every bit the soldier, tonight he was a nobleman.

The dark long sleeves of his tunic were dotted with an intricate gold pattern, the same gold and similar designs weaved a thick line up the front opening of his top and wound around its high collar. Stones like pearls glinted, paired with shapes like faded gold mandalas and stretch almost like a necklace over and behind both of the prince’s shoulders.

“Johnathan Morrison, wasn’t it?”

Jack cringed a little and saw Gabriel furrow his brow - confused or apologetic, maybe both.

“I, uh,” Jack stood, offering his hand. “I go by Jack.”

“Oh,” Gabriel took his hand and nodded. “Jack Morrison. You already know my name.”

Jack was silent, taken aback by the warm weight of the prince’s hand in his. It was gone as quick as it had come.

“I was just reading up on the place,” Jack offered, gesturing to the half a dozen books sprawled across the table. “Figured it’d be useful to know some things.”

Gabriel frowned at him, squinting down at the texts.

“Why would you need to do so much research?” He asked. “You’re a security guard.”

Jack laughed a little, walking over to the table and closing one of the books he’d opened.

“I guess that makes sense,” he replied. “But I like this kind of stuff. I’ve always enjoyed history.”

That wasn’t a lie, though he never considered making a career out of it. He’d gone straight into the armed forces out of high school and had been there up until a few months ago.

Now he was here, working nights at a castle whose prince was standing before him, nearly two centuries later.

“As prince,” Gabriel interrupted his thoughts. “My parents had me tutored privately. Besides what you might expect, I learned a lot about our kingdom’s history. It was…”

He trailed off, choosing his words carefully before he spoke again.

“It was not always my favorite,” he offered. “But always important.”

Recalling what the other had said about Prince Reyes, Jack was pleased to be getting this long of a conversation out of him. He thought, equally as cautious, about how to proceed.

“What was your favorite? To learn about?”

Gabriel, who’d straightened from where he’d been leaning against a table, seemed shocked by the questions.

Jack assumed many of the questions he did receive were more related to his own state of being and how that came about. Personal, but not thoughtful inquiries.

“I did like reading,” the prince answered, arms folded as his gaze wandered the shelves upon shelves of books. “Literature, mostly poetry. I had a friend from Paris who sent me books that became popular over there at the time.”

Jack smiled while Prince Reyes continued his story, while he stood and sifted through books to locate the collection that he was particularly fond of.

Gabriel smiled, turning the small text over in his hands before offering it to Jack.

“The cover has changed,” he mused. “I originally read the poems in French because I didn’t know much English at the time. Maybe you don’t know the works, I am not sure how popular he is now.”

“Edgar Allan Poe,” Jack said, running his fingers across the back cover of the book. “I’ve read some; in America, he is considered a classic. Very dark, though.”

Prince Reyes laughed and that, coupled with a smile that shinned like the sun, seemed to make the room much brighter.

“You’re not the only one to think that,” he replied. “When Amélie first sent it to me, she wrote ‘Terrifiant et sombre. Vous l’aimerez’.”

When the prince didn’t translate right away, Jack mentioned that his French was a little rusty.

“’Horrifying and dark,’” Gabriel added, apologetic. “’You will like it’. And she wasn’t wrong.”

Jack watched for a moment, the soft smile that pulled at the prince’s lips, the fond warmth in his dark eyes.

“If you’re willing to part with it for a night or two,” Jack gestured to Poe’s collection. “I’d love to read it.”

“Of course,” Prince Reyes smiled. “Tell me what you think.”

Jack gripped the book a little tighter than strictly necessary.

“Sure.”

Once he was through with his shift for the evening, Jack declined coffee with Ana, disregarded his body’s need for rest, and ultimately ended up passing out just as he’d finished Poe’s assorted poetry collection.


End file.
